1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly to an apparatus for tilting a door for a refrigerator, which can selectively restrict or allow the tilting of the door for the refrigerator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A refrigerator refers to an appliance for freezing or refrigerating foods. Generally, the refrigerator includes a freezing chamber, a refrigerating chamber, and doors for selectively opening and closing the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber. The doors for the freezing and refrigerating chambers close and open the freezing and refrigerating chambers in various manners for the purpose of ease of use.
FIG. 15 is a view showing a conventional refrigerator.
As shown in FIG. 15, the refrigerator is provided with a storage chamber in the body 10 thereof. stationary rails 11R are provided to both sidewalls of the body 10 defining the storage chamber. The stationary rails 11R are attached to both sidewalls of the body along the width of the sidewall.
The storage chamber is selectively opened and closed by means of a door 13. The door 13 is provided at an upper portion on a front surface thereof with a door handle 13H that a user grips with his/her hand in order to open and close the door 13.
The door 13 also includes tilt hinges (not shown) provided at lower ends of the back surface thereof. The tilt hinges extend through hinge connection members (not shown) provided to the lower ends of the back surface thereof, respectively. The tilt hinges connect the door 13 to a basket frame 15 described below so that the door 13 has an upper end thereof which rotates around the lower end thereof from the front of the storage chamber so as to tilt to a predetermined angle.
The door 13 is provided with the basket frame 15 on the back surface thereof. The basket frame 15 includes basket installation members 16 to which a basket 19 described below is detachably attached, and door connection members 17 connected to the back surface of the door 13.
The basket installation members 16 are horizontally provided and respectively have a square frame shape with an opened front end. The basket installation members are provided with moving rails 16R which are respectively attached to an outer surface of each basket installation member 16. The moving rails 16R slide along the fixed rails 11R, respectively, when the door 13 opens the storage chamber.
The door connection members 17 are vertically provided and have a square frame shape with an opened lower end. The door connection members 17 have the upper ends thereof fixed to the upper ends of the basket installation members 16, respectively, and the lower end thereof connected to the tilt hinges provided to both lower ends of the door 13, respectively.
The basket 19 is detachably mounted in the basket installation members 16 and can be removed upwardly from the basket installation members 16. A receiving chamber having a predetermined volume is defined in the basket 19 in order to receive foods. Further, as the door 13 operates so as to open and close the storage chamber, the basket 19 can be disposed in and removed from the storage chamber.
Hereinafter, the operation of an apparatus for tilting the door for the refrigerator, which opens and closes the storage space, according to the conventional art will be described.
First, the door handle 13H is grasped and pulled outward from the front of the storage chamber. Thus, the door 13 has the upper end thereof rotating around the lower end thereof, substantially a lower hinge pin, with respect to the basket frame 15 so as to tilt at a desired angle for the front surface of the storage surface.
In the state described above, when the door 13 is continuously pulled in the opposite direction to the storage chamber, the moving rails 15R slide along the fixed rails 11R so as to open the storage chamber. Further, the basket 19 and the basket frame 15 are drawn forward from the storage chamber so as to allow a user to put foods in the basket 19 or to take foods out of the basket 19.
However, the apparatus for tilting the door for the refrigerator according to the conventional art has problems as follows:
As described above, the door 13 can be installed so as to be able to be tilted by means of the tilt hinge. Therefore, in order to minimize outer force applied to the tilt hinge in the process of tilting the door 13, a user supports the door 13 with desired force, while tilting the door.
In addition, the door 13 moves forward from the storage chamber and opens the storage chamber in the state of tilting at a predetermined angle. Specifically, the door 13 is tilted regardless of the user's intention when the storage chamber is opened. Thus, where the door 13 need not be tilted, for example, in the case of putting a relatively large-sized food in the basket 19, there is a disadvantage in that the opening of the storage chamber gives unnecessary troubles to a user.